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Study How do placebo help against chronic back pain?
Back pain has become a true folk disease. Cause of the complaints are often a bad posture and too little exercise. More and more people have to be treated for such pain. At the University Hospital Essen it will now be investigated if and how placebos can help.
Sometimes it is not done with simple home remedies
In recent years, more and more patients in Germany have gone for medical treatment for back pain. Patients are usually advised not to be overly concerned about complaints, but rather to strengthen their backs through exercise. Heat in the form of a hot water bottle or a hot bath is also recommended. However, when the symptoms become severe and / or chronic, simple home remedies for back pain are often not enough. Now it will be investigated if and how placebo can help here.
More than 15 percent of the adult population suffer from chronic back pain lasting more than three months. Now it will be investigated if and how placebos help against the symptoms. (Image: BillionPhotos.com/fotolia.com) One in seven adults suffers from chronic back pain
Over 15 percent of the adult population suffer from chronic back pain lasting more than three months. The causes for this are manifold.
In many patients, despite various treatments no pain relief has set. Sometimes, however, drugs without active ingredients can lead to success.
For example, scientists at the ISPA Instituto Universitário in Lisbon last year reported in the journal "Pain" that chronic back pain can be reduced with placebo.
Now also researchers of the back pain center at the University Hospital Essen want to investigate if and how placebos help against the symptoms.
Why placebos?
It has long been known that taking placebos can relieve chronic pain.
"This is linked, among other things, to the activation of endogenous pain-relieving mechanisms - such as the release of opioids (" self-healing powers ")," it says in a flyer of the hospital.
According to the experts, recent findings indicate that placebos work even when administered "openly" (so-called "open-label placebo treatment")..
Study participants searched
The aim of the study was "to investigate the influence of placebos, which are taken in addition to the normal medication, on your back pain and your mobility".
For this purpose, test persons are still being sought. Depending on the group in which the participants are in, the examination includes a three-week placebo therapy or observation phase.
The intake of the prescribed medication is not affected; however, the medication should remain unchanged and be noted.
Interested back pain patients can call 0201 / 723-2439. (Ad)